


Stay/Promise

by ambiguously



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Post-Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:20:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22413112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguously/pseuds/ambiguously
Summary: Luke has a lot of things to work out after the events that transpired aboard the second Death Star, including his feelings for Leia.
Relationships: Leia Organa/Luke Skywalker, implied Leia Organa/Luke Skywalker/Han Solo
Comments: 10
Kudos: 63
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	Stay/Promise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NotebookishType](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotebookishType/gifts).



It's not over. Even with the decaying debris from the Death Star raining across the forest moon, even with the Emperor dead and his most loyal servant burnt to ashes in a clearing not far from the village, even with the Imperial fleet on the defensive, running for cover, it isn't over yet. Dragging himself to the briefing, Luke emerges from the deep, hazy state of half-meditation, half-shock that he's indulged himself with these last two days. He's still healing from the Force lightning wounds across his body and the deeper wounds across his soul. But the fight isn't finished, Mon Mothma tells them all. The senior leaders have been meeting these last few days, Leia among them, and they have plans ready to enact.

Han nudges him. In a low voice he says to Luke, "Guess we're shipping out. I was starting to like this place."

"I could use some new scenery."

He doesn't add that the change should involve putting some distance between himself and Han and Leia. He's still not used to saying their names together as one unit. It's better this way, he thinks to himself under a placid smile he doesn't feel. Leia worried for Han the entire time he was missing, and even if she worked out some of that worry with Luke in his bunk then, she's made her choice, the only choice she can make now that they know the truth. He's happy for her, and for Han. He truly, genuinely is happy for them. He loves them both, loves them more deeply than he can remember caring for anyone else in his whole life.

He can be happy for them, and heartbroken, too. Luke has spent his life filled with an overflow of emotions. What are a few more?

General Madine hands out the assignment chitties. Luke accepts his, glances over it, and notes his orders are the same as Han's. While Han compares notes with Wedge, Luke follows Madine until he's out of earshot, and waits for him to pass out another set before he interrupts.

"Commander Skywalker, is there an issue?"

"No, General. I'd like to request a different assignment."

"Negative." Madine looks sympathetic but inexorable. "We need you with the main fleet now. You're one of our best pilots, and you've been out on personal leave long enough."

Luke is taken aback. Yes, that was how he and Leia had framed their last breakaway to Tatooine. He's lucky she didn't report he went AWOL during the Endor strike when he left for personal reasons yet again. He wasn't aware his time away had been tracked.

Madine watches him. "Commander, I expect a number of our people will ignore Mon Mothma's words today and assume the Empire has been defeated. I've already accepted twelve resignations since yesterday. Leia told us you were the one who defeated the Emperor and Vader, and I'll be the first to say the galaxy owes you a huge debt for that. No one will ever say you haven't done enough, or force you to stay with the Rebellion if you choose to leave, but if you're staying, you are still under the chain of command."

For the first time, Luke notes the tired faces around him. Leia always looks as beautiful as a dewy morning, at least to Luke, but along with the rest of Alliance High Command, she's ragged. Madine is barely upright. While the rest of them have been recuperating, their leaders have been preparing to return to the battle and finish this. They'll let Luke walk away, but they won't let him disrupt their work.

"Yes, sir. Sorry, General. I'll ready my ship."

"Good man," says Madine, clapping him on the shoulder. He returns to his work, and Luke goes to find Han, who's already grabbed Chewie and headed off towards where Lando parked the _Millennium Falcon_.

Leia is already there. She smiles as soon as she sees him, lighting up under her fatigue. "There you are. I wanted to tell you before you got your orders but I didn't see you this morning."

"Sorry, I was catching up on sleep."

Her smile fades. "Are you all right?" She gives him a critical look. "You were going to report to Medical yesterday. Why am I sure you didn't?"

"I just need rest."

"And repairs for your hand, and a thorough checkup to find out what Force lightning from a Sith Lord does to the nervous system." She's moved into a lecturing tone he knows well and loves too much. "It's a good thing you're assigned to my company. You're seeing a doctor or a med droid as soon as we're in space."

"Yes, ma'am." Han is inside, although the hatch is open and Luke can hear him shouting back and forth with Chewbacca as they check over their ship. Other Rebels are on errands of their own, hurrying around them, but for the moment, it's nearly like being alone. "I think I should be assigned to a different company."

Leia looks down and away, then back at him. "I understand your concern, but I'm not in your direct chain of command." She rests her hand against his arm, radiating heat through his sleeve. "It's fine."

"You and Han should take some time to be together. You don't need me there making things awkward."

"It's not awkward." Her amused smile is back. "Some days I think you're the one who keeps the rest of us together."

"Then it's past time I stepped away for a while. You and Han...."

"Need you. We need you with us, Luke. Promise me you'll stay."

It's unfair. Leia has to know this is unfair, but she's been a fighter since she was a little girl. She'll use any tactic to win the war, no matter how dirty. She doesn't know how to live any other way, and he loves her for it, loves her for the passion she brings to every goal.

"I'll stay. For now."

She frowns. "Luke."

"If you and Han are going to make things work, it has to be between the two of you, not with your brother standing right there." He drops his voice. "Not after everything."

Finally she understands, a shadow of sorrow in her eyes. "Stay for now."

"For now. I promise."

* * *

The fleet sets off the following day, rejoining the few ships that had not participated in the attack then splitting off into five smaller fleets. Red Squadron docks inside a carrier, allowing the pilots more time to stretch their limbs and recuperate before the next engagement. The largest fleet heads to Coruscant. The smallest is dispatched to take the main Academy. The rest are deployed to chase down the remnants of the Imperial Navy.

Wedge says, "I'd like to go with them to Coruscant. You've never been there, have you?"

"Not yet," says Luke. "When this is all over, I want to visit the Jedi Temple."

Wedge bumps his arm. "You're still going on about that Jedi thing?"

"I'm considering it." Not everyone knows how far he's come. Wedge is happier not knowing. He already knows more than Luke is comfortable with right now. "That reminds me, I have an appointment in Medical."

* * *

Leia is traveling aboard _Home One_ along with the members of Rebel Command who don't also command their own ships. As the fleet pauses between jumps, she signals Luke to join her. "I need to talk with you. In person," she adds before he could come up with a reason to stay on comms.

A few shuttles zoom between ships during the short stop, ferrying maintenance personnel, dignitaries, and one tired Jedi. If he can make this short, he can be back on the carrier before they're in hyperspace again. Even as he thinks this, he feels the dip in his stomach telling them they've already made the jump. He's here until they reach the next point, which could be days. Even a short time ago, the thought of an enforced couple of days with Leia would have been a dream come true. Some dreams ended.

Luke reports to Operations, but Leia isn't there. "My quarters," she says, giving him the directions. "Did you bring Artoo?"

"No. He's back with my X-wing."

She makes a noise in her throat, which he can hear over the commlink. "Just come."

Curious now, Luke makes his way to the living quarters. Leia has been assigned a small cabin, not any bigger than the ones on the _Falcon_. Threepio stands inside the door, and shows every sign of droid delight when Luke appears.

"Master Luke! Thank goodness you've come!" He turned his body to look behind Luke. "Where is Artoo?"

Leia said, "Artoo isn't coming until the next stop. I neglected to ask Luke to bring him."

"Oh." The delight turns to disappointment. "Please come inside, Master Luke."

He steps in, and the door slides shut. "I could have just sent Artoo over on the shuttle." He keeps his tone light and teasing, and stands close to the door. It's the first time they've been alone since he returned from the Death Star, barring Threepio's presence. He's not sure what to say to her, how to act now that so much has landed between them.

"It's fine," she says with a mild irritation, sitting on the bunk with a lapdesk holding four datapads and a flimsy with tightly-cribbed handwritten notes. "I have some records stored inside his data banks. I can access them later. I should have remembered to ask you." She turns to Threepio. "You can power down for the night, Threepio."

"Thank you, Princess Leia." His eyes go dark.

It's been a day and a half since Luke last saw her. She doesn't look like she's slept since then, either. He forgets his worries in an instant. He takes a seat beside her. "Hi."

She turns, pulling out a tired smile from somewhere. "Hi."

"When's the last time you got your head down for a while?"

"Don't you start," she says. "I'm only in here because I'm under orders to get some rest." His eyes fall on her pile of work, and she shrugs in reply. "I need to be busy. I need to be doing something useful."

It was the same thing when Han was gone, and they waited for weeks between each transmission from Lando and Chewie. Leia threw herself even more fervently into a cause Luke had already believed she was completely dedicated to. Thinking back now, she'd worked herself to the bone during the evacuation of the Yavin 4 base, too, and Luke hadn't known her well enough then to understand what was going on.

Now he knows her better than anyone in the galaxy.

"You can't fix the past."

"I can fix the future," she says, scanning a document on one datapad. She closes her eyes. "I have to be able to fix the future."

Luke wraps an arm around her, and enjoys the feeling of Leia's head nestling comfortably against him. Too much, and that hurts too. "You'll fix it better from the other side of a nap."

"You might be right." She settles against him. He lifts the lap desk and sets it aside, then nudges her to lie down. Her hair is still in a tight braid, which he would think was uncomfortable but she's always insisted it's easier this way. On a few of their nights together, her hair came unbound, and Luke woke tangled in silky strands. That image overlays with her now, curling up with a thin pillow on the bunk.

He's weak. He kisses her cheek as he stands. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Stay," she says, mumbling into the pillow. He freezes.

"I'll find the barracks." He's not sure there is such a thing on this ship but surely the security and maintenance personnel don't have personal cabins. He can find a spare bunk for himself and catch the first shuttle back to the carrier when the convoy hits its stopover point.

"You keep walking away from me." She sounds more awake than he thought. "Are you that disappointed with me?"

"I couldn't be disappointed with you if I tried."

"That's one of us. I should have gone with you to Vader."

A new set of horrors flash across his mental landscape. "You should not have under any circumstances."

"We could have fought him together. He hurt you. I could have helped."

Luke shakes his head. "You stayed with the mission. The Rebellion needed you on Endor. Han couldn't have taken down the generator without you there."

"He wouldn't have, you mean. Han has a hard time focusing on the task at hand. He needs us both to keep his feet pointed in the right direction." Fondness fills her voice. A year ago, she'd have been griping about him with the exact same words. She loves Han, has finally admitted that to herself. It's best this way. "I still should have been at your side."

"He'd have used you to control me."

Her lips press into a tight line. "I don't always need you to rescue me, you know."

"I know. Leia, Vader did use you to control me. He read my mind, and he found you there. He wanted me to give into my anger and attack him. He threatened you, and I did. I was ready to strike him down, and if I had killed him, I would have joined the Emperor to take his place." The words hurt to pull out from inside himself. "If you'd been there, if I'd had to make the choice between your life and the rest of the galaxy, I know what I would have chosen. You couldn't have come. It would have been the end of everything."

Her eyes drop as though she's thinking. Luke understands. He didn't tell her everything that went on aboard the Death Star, only the barest facts: Palpatine was dead at Vader's hands, and Vader had rejoined the light at the end.

"He used me to get to you, just like on Bespin."

Luke folds his arms. He knows it's a protective gesture, and he can see in her sudden pitying stare that Leia knows it, too. He doesn't answer.

"Because he knew how you feel about me."

There's no point in denying. "Yes."

She lets out a jaded laugh. "That figures. I'm the bastard offspring of the biggest monster in the galaxy, and as soon as he finds out, all he cares about is how that makes you feel."

It's never occurred to him that their parents may not have been married. Uncle Owen had never said much about Luke's mother, and the more Luke finds out, the more he wonders how little his aunt and uncle knew when they accepted him into their home. It's also not her point.

"If it makes you feel any better, he said his plan was to turn you to the Dark Side instead." Luke is sure Vader only said so to provoke him, and it worked.

"He could try." Leia is mildly appeased. Another thing he's always admired about her is how she wants the Empire to taker her seriously as a threat. Several members of Rebellion Command who are devout to their cause would have attacked Palpatine with their own bare teeth given the chance, and Leia's are sharper than most.

"I worry about what would have happened if he had tried. You're stronger-willed than I am, but you're stronger in general. I have a bad feeling that if he'd succeeded, you'd have taken them both out and you'd be ruling the galaxy even as we speak."

"You didn't. You had them both dead. But you're here, looking for a common pilot's bunkroom instead of living it up on Coruscant as the new Emperor."

"I'm not the ruling in tyranny type."

"Oh," Leia replies with mock outrage. "You think I am?"

"No, ma'am. Definitely not, ma'am."

She manages her stern look for one more second before breaking into a smile. Leia has the best smiles, and for a moment, they're a year younger and they don't know all the things they will, and he's never loved anyone so much. Reality crashes down again.

"Speaking of, I should find that bunkroom. It's getting late."

"You should stay." She's lounging on her bunk, watching him. "You used to stay."

"Leia." Too many memories crowd in at once, memories he shouldn't have now, times they can't have again.

"Vader got to you because he knew you're in love with me. I'm sorry he used me to hurt you, but I will not let you walk away because he did."

Luke shakes his head. "That's not why and you know it. You're my sister. I knew it inside my bones as soon as I found out I had a sister. You said you knew it was true as soon as I told you. It doesn't matter what Vader did. He died, and he died saving me. He can't hurt you now. I won't stay and hurt you either."

"Who else knows?"

"Does it matter?" He shakes his head again. "And Han...." He can't finish.

"I told Han. He thinks it's great. You know he's been in love with you forever. I wasn't sure until he risked his ass for you on Hoth. I don't think anyone else knows, or cares, about what happened when we were babies."

Leia gets up from the bunk and moves towards him. Luke steps back, but there's a door behind him. "I should go."

"You can go if that's what you want. I won't stop you." She stands in front of him, looking up. He wonders if she favors their mother, or if their father had her piercing gaze when he was young. "I can feel your heart, Luke. You want to stay here with me, and you're killing yourself inside because you think you shouldn't love me anymore. But you do."

He closes his eyes, a million reasons why this is a bad idea swimming behind his eyelids. But when he opens them, he only sees her. He always only sees her.

But as much as he loves her, he can't let Leia win completely. "So you're saying I've got a shot with Han?"

Leia kisses him, as she's kissed him so many times before, and his hands know the shape of her hips as he draws her closer. This is a terrible idea, and even more terrible is his certainty that come the next hyperspace jump, they'll both find reasons to be on the _Falcon_ with Han. This will be messy, and hard, and secrets have a bad habit of coming out.

She smiles against his mouth. "You're thinking too much. I can hear you."

"That's not my fault. I could go."

"Stay. Promise me you'll stay."

The time has come to stop thinking and start living. "I promise." Luke kisses her back as they make their way to her bunk together.


End file.
